Viewpoint

I recently saw “Othello” for the first time at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. It was a great production with strong performances and an astounding set. The play itself, of course, is a masterpiece. It’s before-its-time handling of race relations is more pertinent than ever (Othello is a black man in decidedly-white Venice). But it was the terrible

Viewpoint

The morning after graduation, my friend and former classmate Catherine Sullivan, a Saint Mary’s 2015 graduate, boarded a plane to Washington, D.C. to discern a two-year position with Franciscan Mission Service (FMS), an internationally focused lay mission program. After three months of classes on cultural sensitivity, white privilege, racism, sexism, globalization, Catholic social teaching and more, Catherine left

Viewpoint

I love Saint Mary’s. I love the campus, the professors and the alumnae. I love the empowerment of a women’s education, of having a women’s space: I love going to Mass with female lectors and acolytes and ministers, prayer services presided over by women and classes full of women raising their hands to discuss. I love feeling safe

Viewpoint

Growing up, I had a hard time finding a connection to Mary. She’s got more titles — Blessed Virgin, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven, Our Lady of (insert here) — than speaking lines in the Gospels. The images of her on my rosaries showed a flawless face somehow both serene and severe. In prayers, she was

Viewpoint

Auditioning for the Humor Artists in the fall of 2014 — as an SMC junior returning from a year abroad — was a leap for me. I’m typically one of the quieter theater types (yes, there is such a thing!), and the idea of getting up without a script in front of an audience that expected to

Viewpoint

Last semester, my writing professor forbade us from using the word “relatable” to describe each other’s work. I thought it was because the word was overused, the same way I was forbidden to use the word “skillz” in seventh grade (“You’ve got mad skillz!”). But, after thinking about it, it’s really the idea behind it that’s overused. Yet

Viewpoint

It’s a strange time for Christmas. Of course, it’s happened every December for a while now, but looking around at our country and our world, it’s a strange time for “the most wonderful time Of the year.” We’ve gotten our fill of Thanksgiving delights, but somehow we’re more ravenous than ever, with Secret Santas and stockings and

Viewpoint

Don’t punch me, but I got to see “Hamilton” on Broadway over fall break. My head is still spinning over my luck. As we watched history come to life onstage, the audience knew we too were a part of history, part of a seismic shift in the way we approach musical theatre and our own founding story.

Viewpoint

Editor’s Note: Several uses of “pro-choice” have been revised to “pro-abortion” to more closely align with the author’s original phrasing. Saint Mary’s sidewalks were more controversial than usual this week. SMC Right to Life Club covered them with quotes from popes, messages supporting life and their signature statement: “Respect Women, Respect Children, Respect Life.” By Tuesday, most

Viewpoint

I love Facebook. I love that all I need to do is type “f” into my search bar for Google Chrome to take me to my newsfeed. I check it several times a day, liking photos, reading status updates and keeping my profile as manicured as a hedgerow in Kensington Gardens. No spelling mistakes, no unwanted photos and